Computing devices are often used to capture data, such as when capturing an image using a camera on a computing device. An increasingly common feature of modem cameras on computing devices is the option to take high dynamic range (HDR) photographs. Conventional approaches to generating HDR photographs typically involve capturing a plurality of non-HDR photographs and immediately processing the plurality of non-HDR photographs, combining them to generate an HDR photograph. However, the processing of the plurality of photographs to generate the HDR photograph can make the computing device (and the camera on the computing device) slow or unusable because the computing device may be busy using much of its processing power to process the photographs to form the HDR photograph. For example, a user of the computing device (and camera) may want to take multiple HDR photos in a row, but cannot do so because he/she has to wait for each HDR photo to be generated before taking the next one. In another example, the user may have accidentally taken an HDR image incorrectly or inappropriately and thus the user wants to take a correct and appropriate HDR image, but he/she has to wait until the former HDR image is generated. These and other shortcomings of conventional approaches can be detrimental to the overall user experience with HDR photography. As such, an improved approach to handling HDR photography is needed.